


This Night Has Opened My Eyes

by Lothiriel84



Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: Age Difference, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, One-Sided Attraction, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:24:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: And I'm not happyAnd I'm not sad





	This Night Has Opened My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eruthiel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eruthiel/gifts).



> Inspired by [this excellent drawing](http://smegandtheheads.tumblr.com/post/176286967373/ive-been-tracing-over-gifs-to-practise-animating) by eruthiel.

In retrospect, he supposed he’d had it coming for quite a long time. It simply hadn’t quite occurred to him, not until just now; he’d always vaguely assumed he was going to settle down with a nice boy his own age at some point (provided there was one who would like him back, which all in all didn’t seem particularly likely).

Dating his best friend – who was ten years his senior, and also happened to be his boss and mentor – had never even crossed his mind. Sure, it hadn’t escaped his notice that Colin was the smartest, most charming, and utterly beautiful human being he knew; and yet, he honestly didn’t have a clue when it had started being less about ‘if only I could be like him’, and more about ‘if I only I could be _with_ him’.

And here he was, covertly watching his one and only friend as he danced to an old Earth song that was a few centuries old at best, happy and carefree and everything he did not know he wanted up until now. The way his perfect curls bounced about his cheeks, the top button of his offensively bright pink shirt undone to reveal the smooth skin underneath – every single detail etched into his memory forever, endlessly to brighten his days and haunt his nights.

It was in that moment that he realised with sudden clarity there was nothing he would not do for that man; he would gladly die a thousand deaths just to please him, would follow him to the end of the multiverse and back only to be graced with the blessing of his smile.

Realistically, he didn’t expect his newly discovered feelings to be reciprocated; Colin’s heartfelt speech on how romance tended to get in the way of good science was still fresh in his mind, and even if he were to disregard that, it would still do nothing to close the tremendous gap between the two of them.

In many ways, it didn’t matter; being allowed to bask in Colin’s glory was more than enough, and if the price he had to pay was to sit and watch as the man he loved found solace in the arms of a string of faceless lovers, then so be it. He was the one Colin turned to when it came to everything that truly mattered; if his mind was the only part of him Colin was ever going to be interested in, it was still infinitely more than could be said of anyone else on this planet, or elsewhere.

As sneakily as he knew how, he fished in his lab coat pocket for his phone, holding his breath as he swiped for the phone camera. He snapped a couple of photographs and saved them to a secure, hidden folder only he could access.

If Colin’s impromptu dance routine had been the catalyst that had opened up this Pandora’s box of forbidden feelings, then he might as well keep a little memento of it, just in case. He pocketed his phone and tiptoed out of the room, savouring the unfamiliar, glorious sensation of being, for the first time in his life, completely in sync with reality.


End file.
